Birkat Hamazon: Blueprint of Jewish Destiny (Part 9)
“Anyone who recites Birkat HaMazon is blessed through it.”
(Zohar HaKadosh to ParshatTerumah)
The third Blessing reads: “Have mercy, Hashem our
The third blessing in Birkat HaMazon focuses on the rebuilding of Jerusalem. The Talmud relates (Berachot 48b) that King David composed the opening words of the blessing and King Shlomo added the words, “And on the great and holy House upon which Your name is called.” King David could not have made mention of the Holy Temple, as it had not yet been built. It was his son, King Shlomo, who merited to build the First Temple. Hence, it was King Shlomo who included the extra piece mentioning the “great and holy House.”
The Tur writes that with the destruction of the First Temple, parts of the blessing were reworded to reflect the new and dismal Temple-less reality and our yearning for its restoration.
The Maharal explains that the next part of the blessing, beginning with the words, “Hashem, our Father,” has no direct connection to the subject matter. It is included in the blessing because this blessing is the last of the three blessings of Birkat HaMazon mandated by the Torah, and it is an opportunity to beseech Hashem once more that He bless us, not just with all that we need, but with so much more. This explains why we refer to Hashem as “Hashem, our Father,” because, as our father, Hashem has brought us into the world and given us life. And, as Hashem, He is the only One who can possibly give us all that we want. Our blessing is coming to reinforce to us the point that we must never forget who our Benefactor is.
Often, when reciting this part of Birkat HaMazon, I am reminded of an enormously successful property developer I met many years ago. Someone who counted his wealth in many hundreds of millions of dollars. What was inspiring was the way he gave away vast sums of tzedakah with such a sense of excitement because he was able to bring so much joy to His Father in Heaven and to those in need. And, yet, just as inspiring, was that he told me, with absolute sincerity, that he really wasn’t such a savvy businessman. Instead, he attributed all of his success to Hashem. In his words, “Hashem just keeps putting me in the right place at the right time.”
Rabbi Shimshon Raphael Hirsch, in his epic work called Horeb, writes that it is not how much or how little one has that makes a person great or small, but it is how much or how little they do with what they have. And, like the successful property magnate, the first thing that a person needs to recognize is that their success lies solely in the Hands of Hashem.
Interestingly enough, there are actually several definitions of poverty. Abaye teaches (Tractate Nedarim 41a), “There is no one destitute except for one who lacks understanding.”
The Bnei Yissachar, Rabbi Zvi Elimelech Spira of Dinov (1783-1841), writes that if the greatest poverty is a lack of wisdom, then the greatest form of tzedakah is the sharing of wisdom. In fact, so great is the sharing of one’s wisdom with others that Rabbi David Shlomo Eibschitz, in his classic work Arvei Nachal, writes that there are two forms of tzedakah. The first is to give money to the poor. The second is to give wisdom to the ignorant. And, as Rabbi Eibschitz writes, guiding people and teaching them to repent is an even greater level of tzedakah than giving money to the needy.
To be continued…
